Bottle carrier and cap remover



May 18, 1937. J. c. I IGEoUR BOTTLE CARRIER AND CAP REMovER Filedv Jani.1s, 195e atented May 18, '1937 uNiTlaiDv STATES PATENT I V goeder:vv ff.j' ff jfrj BOTTLE Carmina ANDCAP REMovER- 'A Joseph C. Lig'eour,Brunswick, Ga. 'l v y n `Application January 16., 1336, SerialNo.'-9,47`2 'F l l `This invention relates to devices `for carrying,

for vending purposesVJ a number ofbottles 'such as areused inldispensing pop, ginger alebeer andthe like, which bottles l,areprovided with metallic caps, ordinarily removed by bottle openers.l '-Itis the custom at ball parks, `fairs and in like circumstances,V `forboys to carry around bottles of` soda, pop, beer, etc., vand whenabottle is bought by a customer, to remove the cap by hand with a bottleopener. In the hastyre- Cil moval of these caps from bottles', thecontents of the bottle is very likely' to be contaminated by the handsof the vender. Furthermore. it is difficult to carry the bottles. l yThegeneral object of the present invention is to provide a carrier soconstructed that a plui rality of bottles may be supported by theirnecks from the carrier. Y

A further object is to provide means' whereby when the bottle is removedfrom the carrierthat the cap will be pulled off` at the same timewithout the necessity of the vender touching the cap at all. 1 Astillfurther object is to provide means whereby the cap is retained withinthe carrier when the bottle is; detached from the carrier, thuspreventing the caps from falling to the ground. This is particularlyrequired in certain States. baseball fields and the like, because ofState laws or or- 0 dinances againstthe dropping of metallic caps uponVthe ground.v f i i Still another object is to so construct the'car-,rier that these caps may be readily removed when necessary and soconstructed that the bottles d may be readily inserted when desired. L

Other objects will` appear in the coursefof'the following description. bY

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying ldrawing wherein: .s fFigure 1 is a top plan view of` a 'bottle carrier constructed inaccordance with/ my invention;

Figure 2 is yan enlargedside' elevationpa'rtl'y in `section of thebottle carrier; shown in Figure 1; y

Figure 3 is a section through thefbottle grip'- ping means showingtheaction on the cap when the bottle is tilted in the direction of thearrow; Figure 4 is an elevation taken at right angles to Figure 3 andshowing the'manner in which the cap is expanded when the bottle'isdetached; Figure 5 is a fragmentary section of the portion l1 toindicate the transverse Vcurvature of this portion. A, n'

Referring to Figure 2, it will be seen that I have illustrated a form ofcarrier comprising a bottles. f Mounted upon 'this supportingplate area'pluplate l0 tojwhich ahandlell is attached, having f Y a headl I2whereby the'shank of the. handle may be'disposed between two fingersofthe handl leaving the thumb free. Thesupporting plate I0 is lillustrated as` being reinforced f at` l3f'so as -tostand` 'the` strain'of supporting'a plurality of bottles. This plate mayjbesquare,circulan-or elongated in onev direction; or cruciform, or may have anyothe'rdesired shape.` The number oi bottles which may be carriediwill.depend `upon the shape and area of the plate l0.

`| lI have illustrated in Figure `1 a supporting plateY I0, which isdesigned to-fcarry fourbottles, but it is to be understood that this ispurely i1- vlustrative and that the supporting plate l0 may quite .alarge number of *f vbe'so shaped as to carry rality-f'of bottle'engaging Aor bottle gripping videvces which may be riveted,`we1ded orotherwise attached tothe plate I0:

Each of these bottley 4engaging devices includes afmetal weby I4 havingdownwardly extending side! walls and is open at front and'rear.y Thelbottles of the character re- -ferred'toand for the support of,y which'thisinvention isdesigned,l are formed withva bulbous f portion a atthe' mouth of thebottle, and abovev this bulbous'portion there is formedabead b overwhich thecap c is crimped..v The side walls of eachbottle-grip therefore extend downward and outward,`asvat l5,"then`a`reformed with a.'-l

slightly indented' portion I6, which is adapted` to engage beneath thelhead1 b, and'below thisfindentation I6, the sidewall of the bottlegripis curved downward and then inward ai. l1,.so as vto portion l1 but'bythe depressions I6 which erigage vbelow the bead b.

Struck up orotherwise forme'dfrom vthe-metal of the gripis a hook-shapedspur I8. This spur is disposed between the two-side walls "of theVconform more or'less' to thebulbous portion lor .A 'bead aat the bottlemouth. Thus it will be seen lthat when the bottle'is inserted-betweenthe side grip and extends'outw ard,'downward and then.. I

upward ina hook. the edge I9 of which isadapted to engage with themargink o f the bottle capitself.

Extending 'downward from the top wall of the'k grip is what I call aspreader, which is desg'natedjzll.

This spreader 20 is'elongatedfrom front "to,

rear of` the grip but isV transversely V-shapedY and normally bearsagainst the top' of lthebottle cap when the bottle is insertedWithin/thegrip. The

function of -this spreader is to act as affulcrlmc` the bottle in theusual way of bottle openers.

If the spreader 20 were not present, it might be possible to detach thecap by swinging the bottle until the upper edge of the cap opposite thespur struck the upper wall of the grip, but there would be no expansionof the bottle cap` and as a consequence, when the bottle was withdrawn,

the cap would drop out of the grip. By providing the spreader 20,however, the extent to which the bottle must be swung in ordery todet-ach the cap is lessened andthe central portion of the cap isdepressed, thus expanding the ,rim of the cap, thus causing it to remainwithin the grip kabove the portion I 6 when the bottleiswithdrawn andmaking it easier to uncap the bottle. Afterwards, these bottle caps maybe readily withdrawn manu-ally from between the sides of the grip.

.The spreader may even penetrate -the bottle cap under thesecircumstances and thus an additional means for holding the bottle capwithin the grip is provided, due to the spreader penetrating the cap andholding it frictionally in place ag-ainst dropping out. Y

In order to preventthe accidental withdrawalv of the bottles or thedetachments of the bottles from the grips, each one of the portionsA Ilis convexly curved outward. so as to vit the crosssectional curvature ofthe bottleat a point just below the bead portion b. Y

In the form of the carrier shown in Figure 1, the bottles are Withdrawneach in 'the direction of the arrow applied to these bottles. Thus eachbottle is-withdrawn lin a vdifferent direction from any other bottle andhence a unlformswinging movement of the'bottles'asthey arecarried by thevender is resisted.` It is to be understood that, ify desired, thesupporting plate l Il may extend out beyond the bottles entirely soas-to tend` to prevent the bottle strikingy the legs of the vender.

The exact contour of the metal grips, the amount of play allowed-and theprecise points of contact between the spur I8 and its position relativeto the contact points of the side members which carry the loaded .orempty bottle are all important. The vspreader 2liat the top of the gripis` particularly important becauseit takes care of the added length ofdistance between the top of the cap and the under part of the bottlebead in the act 'of opening the bottle. In other words, the bottlewouldbe liable to bind within the bottle grip if this spreader did not pierceor depress the bottle cap to a suicient extent. This spreader may befrom %'f to M, deepat the point of contact. In extracting a loadedbottle, it 'is gripped and pulled out in the direction. of the-arrow,Figure 1. Ihe sides'of thee-ap "are practicallytouching the side wallsof the grips. There is a certain amount of spread given to the cap asthe cap releases itself, but the additional spreading brought aboutv bythe spreader 20 forces the edgesof the cap outward and presses theseedges firmly enough against the walls so that the cap will be heldVerysecurely. The vindentation made by the spreader 2li may be ofsufficient depth as to so deform or pierce the cap any length bottle.

ginger ale, Va bottle of Coca-Cola or albottle of any so as to renderthat particular cap untfor use again, The spur I8 must be so shaped atits contact point I9 that under no circumstances will it catch under thebottle bead b but must positively catch only under the downwardly turnededge of the metal cap. In order to insure positive contact at all timesof the portions I1 of the grip with the bottle and for the additionalpurpose of preventing the bottle from slipping as the holder maybe swungor jostled, Iform .the lower edges of the side walls I1, as heretoforestated,-

with a concave curvature which will t around Y the neck of the bottle.

There, is. a side swing of the bottle when carried in this support andwhich must be guarded against. There should be just as little frictionas possible when f either inserting or extracting these bottles'. Onltheother hand, unless the.

andA remain inn'vkposition.

'I'he carrier may be supported by a couple of fingers under the handleand thebottles, under these circumstances, are so distributed as not'tointerfere with the knee action' in riding a bicycle.

-The carriers are practically' indestructible and may be thrown about intubs of Aice by boy venders without danger'of damage. They mayn beloaded with lled bottles and allowedto remain submerged in tubs'of icewithout deterioration. The sanitary characteristics of this holderareparticularly to be noted. Because of the fact that the bottle capremover forms part of the bottle carrier, the hand of the vender ynevertouches the, mouth of the bottle but only the lower end of the bottle.The mouths ofthe bottles are also tosorne extentA protected from rainand dust. .v vz.

It will vbe obvious that these carriers will take A bottle of beer', abottle of other drink, all of which may have different lengths, `may behandled in these carriers. They providel for the Areturn ofA emptiesbecause the empty bottles maybe inserted in the carrier` and handledinthe lsame manner as the filled bottles.' As before stated, the shapeillustrated for-.the

supporting plate I0, which is shown as supporting fourbottles," may bechanged to suit any desired circumstances and` I, therefore, do not wishto be limited to the particular form of `this carrying plate' I0v exceptas defined in the appended claims. e This carrier plate may be so formedas to carry a dozen bottles or two or any desired number and the bottlesmaybefarranged as shown in Figure al, or `arranged intwo rows or in anyother desired way.v j One kof the particularadvantages of. myconstruction is thatit. eliminates the possibility of theft from thevendor where bottles are carried upon an open carrier as, for instancein a bucket, and in passing through large crowds, it is a very simplematter for one so inclined to 4pick up a bottle of cold drink out ofthebucket or other holder without the vendors knowledge..-,This isimpossible with my device.

The instant construction has a considerable advantage over Vthestructure shown in myprior Patent 1,112,300, granted on September 29,1914. In the structure shown in this prior patent, the bottles weresupported upon springs, these springs being supported upon a base plate.Extending over the upper end of the bottle was a finger which bore atits extremity against the extreme margin of the cap of the bottle andwhich finger carried a cap detaching hook engaging beneath the edge ofthe bottle cap. The reason in this construction for using the springsbeneath the bottle was that when the bottle was swung out.- ward at itslower end to detach the cap and remove the bottle from the carrier thedistance between the upper corner of the bottle cap, bearing against thefinger and the supporting plate, if no bottle supporting springs wereused, would be too great to permit the outward movement of the bottle,in other words, the bottle would jam. Hence, the springs were used topermit the bottle to be swung outward. These springs were expensive and;furthermore, the space between each spring and the base plate would bevery lia-v ble to collect dirt.

Again, in my prior construction, it would be necessary to provide somemeans whereby the bottle should be prevented from shifting laterally andhence spring clamps were provided mounted upon a vertical standard whichembraced the neck of the bottle closely adjacent the body of the bottle.These springclamps were expensive and tended to make itdiiiicult toremove the bottle either by the vender or the vendee. Furthermore, therewas a metal top to the carrier which extended outward and then wasrefolded upon itself, then extended downward and then upward toconstitute the cap detaching spurs. This refoided sheet of metal wasliable to collect dirt and dirt would collect within the upwardlyextending fold or bend which constituted the cap detaching means.

My present construction avoids these diiculties, because each bottle issupported entirely by its neck, that is, by means engaging the bulbousportion of the bottle closely adjacent its mouth, so that there is vnonecessity of any base plate or any supporting springs and, as aconsequence, the bottle as it is swung outward at its lower end, hasnothing to jam against.

Furthermore, I have provided the lateral depending members which preventlateral swinging of the bottle and by their transverse curvature preventthe bottles from accidentally falling out from between the bottle neckclamps, thus doing away with the necessity of special bottle neck clampsprojecting horizontally from a supporting rod, as in my previousconstruction.

Again, in my prior patent above referred to, there was no means forretaining the bottle caps, so that these bottle caps became strewn overthe iioor of the stand or on the ground and had to be gathered up later.If they were left on the oor, they would be stepped on, to the injury ofshoes, and might even cause falls.

With my present construction, the bottle cap is retained in the carrierso that the members l5 with the bends have a double function. Theysupport the bottle by its bulbous portion and also act to retain the capwhen the bottle is swung to remove it. This retention of the cap cannotoccur, however, unless the cap is expanded, as shownin my Figure 4, andthis expansion could not be accomplished in my prior patent by theoverhanging member, and the caps could not be positively held in placebythe downwardly depending lugs shown in my prior patent, which merelyfrictionally engaged the cap.

Furthermore, in my'present construction, the

ved entirely by their necks as*y illustrated inthe drawing, withoutdepartingl from the spirit' of the invention, andit is within thepurview of my invention to mount the plate I0 upon such a support.r

What is claimed isz'- 1. A bottle carrier including a bottle grippingrdevice comprising a normally horizontal top having two opposeddownwardly extending side portions, the side portionsextending outwardand then sharply inward to engage beneath the bead at the mouth of thebottle and beneath the lower edge of the bottle cap, the side portionsthen extending downward and inward in a curve approximately tting thebulbous portion adjacent the mouth of a bottle, the lower edges of theseside portions being re-entrantlycurved to fit the transverse curvature'ofthe bottle neck immediately below said bulbous portion, the rearportion of the top of the bottle carrier being provided with adownwardly extending inwardly hooked spur engageable beneath the bottlecapwhereby when the lower portion of the'bottleis swung outward thespurwill remove the bottle cap,r they top of the bottle gripping devicebeing formed with a downwardly extending spreader adapted to constitutethe fulcrum against which the cap bears when the bottle is swung todetach the cap and acting to depress or indent the center of the cap tothus cause it to spread and prevent the cap dropping out of the grippingdevice, the l spreader extending in a plane approximately parallel tothe plane of the side portions and having a longitudinally at lower edgeface adapted to bear against the upper surface of the bottle cap andsteady the bottle against swinging movement longitudinally of the sideportions.

2. A bottle carrier including a bottle gripping device comprising anormally horizontal top having two opposed rdownwardly extending sideportions, the side portions extending outward and then sharply-inward toengage beneath the bead at the mouth of the bottle and beneath the loweredge of the bottle cap, the side portions' then extending downward andinward in a curve approximately fitting the bulbous portion adjacent themouth of a bottle, the lower edge of these side portions beingre-entrantly curved to fit the transverse curvature of the bottle neckimmediately below said bulbous portion, the rear portion of the top ofthe bottle carrier being provided withl a downwardly extending inwardlyhooked spur engageable beneath the bottle cap whereby when the lowerportion of the bottle is swung outward the spur will remove the bottlecap, the top of the bottle gripping device being formed with adownwardly extending wedgeshaped spreader adapted to constitute thefultle is swung to detach the cap and acting to de'- press or indent thecenter of the cap to thus cause it to spread the cap laterally so thatthe lower margin of the cap is pressed against saidside por` tions tothus prevent the cap dropping out of the gripping device.

3. A Abottle carrier of the character described, comprising a normallyhorizontal supporting plate having a handle on Iits upper face,'thelower face of the plate having attached thereto a bottle neck grippingmeans, comprising two downwardly extending lateral members, each lateralmember extending downwardly and then sharply inward to engage beneaththe bead at the mouth of a bottle and beneath the edge of the capthereon, then extending downward and in- -ward in a curve to embrace andfit against the bulbous portion of thebottle neck adjacent said bead,the last named portion being concavely curved transversely tok fitcircumferentially around the bulbous portion of the neck, there being adownwardly extending hook-shaped memberdisposed between said sideportions and at the rear thereof, thehook-shaped memberextendingdownward, then inward, then upward to engage beneath the edge ofthebottle cap and detach said cap when the vibottle is swung forward, therebeing a spreader extending downward toward the middle of the bottle capand against which the bottle cap is forced when the bottle is swungoutward to disengage the cap.

- 4. A bottle carrier, including a normally horizontal carrying platehaving an upwardly projecting handle, a metallic web disposed againstthe under face of the plate and having end portions extending downwardand arranged and constructed to engage beneath the lower edge of a-bottle cap and engage with the bulbous portion-of the bottle neckwhereby the bottle is entirely supported by said end portions of theweb, the rear of said web having an integral downwardly extendingcap-detaching member having an upwardly ex- 2,oso,947

y tending spury engaging beneath .the lower edge of said cap, and aspreader depending from the nfld'-l die of the web and adapted to engagethe top of ,f

the bottle cap, said spreaderhaving a relatively small shankconstituting a rivet and riveting the spur and webto the supportingplate.

5. A bottle vcarrier including` a normally horizontal plate havinglaearr'ying handle projectingv upward from theupper surface of theplate, the undersurface of the; plate having a pairof depending opposedresilient 'bottle neckgripping members, the,members` being spaced 'fromeach other and substantially parallel below their upr per ends and beingfree to move ytoward or from each other, each member being formed andconstructed to engage'beneath the bead at the upper end of the bottlenliouth and extending downward and inward tont a'gainstjand engage'partially around and beneath the bulbous portion of thebottle neckbelowfsaid bead whereby the bottle is supported `entirely byl itsupperend'but may be detached by movingthe bottle in a direction approximatelyparallel to the vdepending members.

6. A bottle carrier including a normally horizontal plate having acarrying handle projecting upward from its upper surface and having apair of opposed resilient bottle neck gripping members depending fromthe underface of the plate, the members being spaced from butsubstantially parallel to each other below their upper ends, the membersextending downward and inward to engage beneath the bead on the upperend of the bottle and then extending successively/ outward,

downward and' vinward and being transversely j:

curved to `iit against and extending]l partially around and beneath thebulbous portion ofthe bottle neck whereby the ,bottle' is supported,`en'- tirely by its neck but may be detached by'swinging the bottle in aplane parallel to the planes of said depending members. r .JOSEPHv c.LIGEOUR.

